Page 111 of The Alien in the Archive

Page’s comfort with our situation doesn’t last all night.

And now that the minutes are ticking by…the hours past dusk, into the night…neither does mine.

We hash out the ways we’ve prepared over and over again—we go through the notes in my chronicle, we discuss the evidence found in the reading room. Page reminds herself I haven’t actually done anything wrong beyond being Borean; I remember that I have never been blameless.

And because we can read each other’s minds, every anxiety is multiplied.

Hours later, she’s sitting in a pile of cushions, Ashlan perched on her lap and purring like mad as she strokes behind his ears. I come to sit beside her, saying nothing at first. Her emotions are too raw; I know she needs time to sort through them.

But she doesn’t take the time. She never does.

Instead, she straightens her shoulders and bites her lip.

“We could still leave,” she says quietly, thinking out loud. “We can go through the Labyrinth, find a ship offworld, and disappear.”

It’s not the first time she’s suggested this, but there’s a desperation in her tone that cuts me to the core. I take her hand, folding it firmly between mine. “Page,” I murmur. “We talked about this.”

“We talked about waiting,” she replies. “We talked about trusting people. But look where that got us? Lyn could already be talking to someone. How long until?—”

I cut her off. “How long until what? Someone finds me? Because if we go offworld…well, it’s almost a certainty.”

She swallows hard. “We could find a way,” she whispers.

“I think we both know that’s not true.”

Ashlan hops off of her lap, probably irritated by our anxiety, and even more annoyed that Page has blocked the exit to the Obscuary. I reach up to brush a strand of hair behind Page’s ear.

“This isn’t the end,” I tell her. “I don’t know what happens next, but I know this isn’t the end for us. Whatever comes, we’ll get through it.”

She lets out a shaky breath, leaning into my touch. “What if we don’t?”

“I’m not considering that possibility.”

She snorts. “And you call me stubborn.”

“It’s not like that,” I say. “It’s because…”

I pause, unsure how to broach this subject. I’m sure she knows the mythology around mates—the various creation stories, how it works. It’s an area that’s rarely been studied, and is one of the most profound mysteries of the galaxy.

Regardless of all that, mates are real.

And that’s why I’m certain we won’t be parted.

“Page,” I murmur, turning to face her fully. She does the same, sitting cross-legged in the cushions. “I’m confident that we will get through these next days…because I cannot believe that I waited five thousand years to meet you, only for you to be torn away from me. The intersection of our lives was so strange, so unlikely, that it could only be fate.”

Page’s breath catches, and through the bond I feel a wave of emotions—hope, fear, and deep, abiding love. She stares at me, grey eyes wide, like she’s been waiting for me to say this all along.

“I know,” she whispers.

I reach out and take her hands. “You felt it too?”

She nods. “I figured it out before the fight and I just…other things were going on. I can’t say I know much about it. I’m not an expert, but this has to be it, right? That weird like…soul bond thing.”

“It’s what drew me to you,” I tell her. “I didn’t want to tell you because I feared it would influence your thinking. I wanted you to feel that you had a choice.”

She laughs softly, shaking her head. I frown. “What?”

“It’s just funny,” she says. “Because I fell in love with you without any silly fate shit. I just…loved you. For your humor and your intelligence and the fact that you love romance novels and dote on your cute pet.”

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